Richard Reid

Richard Reid (12 August 1973-) was an al-Qaeda member who planned to bring down American Airlines Flight 63 with a shoe bomb on 22 December 2001. However, he got nervous and the sweat from his feet defused the bomb, and he was unable to destroy the plane. Reid was then arrested and sentenced to three life sentences plus 110 years in prison at a supermax facility in the United States.

Biography
Richard Reid was born on 12 August 1973 in Bromley, Kent, United Kingdom, the son of a half-Jamaican, half-English father and an English mother. Reid's father Colvin was in prison for stealing a car when Richard was born, and the younger Reid dropped out of school at age 16 to become a petty criminal like his father. In 1995, he converted to Islam on the advice of his father, who told him that Muslims treated other people equally and that they had better food in prison. In 1996, he joined the Brixton Mosque on his release, and the infamous anti-American preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri radicalized Reid while he attended the Finsbury Park Mosque. From 1999 to 2000, he spent time at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, and Reid and Saajid Badat were sent on a suicide mission to bring down American Airlines Flight 63 with shoe bombs. On 22 December 2001, they boarded American Airlines Flight 63 in Paris, France, and Reid attempted to light a match to ignite the bomb. However, a flight attendant had him put out the match, thinking that he was smoking. When the attendant returned, Reid attacked her, pushing her to the floor twice, and he bit another attendant's thumb when she tried to restrain him. Eventually, the other passengers resisted him, and he was subdued with plastic handcuffs and tranquilized. The plane diverted to Logan International Airport, where Reid was arrested. He was subsequently sentenced to three life sentences and 110 years in prison for the bombing attempt.